The Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Hickmania Troglodytes (Higgins and Petterd, 1883) (Araneae, Gradungulidae) and Bothriocyrtum californicum (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874) (Araneae, Halonoproctidae) — 107a — Olivia C. Kern¹ and L. Brian Patrick²

¹Biology Department, Augustana University, 2001 S. Summit Ave., Sioux Falls, SD, 57197, USA

²Department of Biological Sciences, Dakota Wesleyan University, 1200 W. University Ave., Mitchell, SD, 57301, USA

Spiders (Araneae) are important terrestrial predators whose unique characteristics, habitats, behaviors, and predatory nature allow them to fill essential ecological roles. To date, there are 52,218 classified spider species, but only around 100 spider species have had their mitochondrial genomes sequenced and annotated. Here, the mitochondrial genomes of Hickmania troglodytes (Higgins and Petterd, 1883) and Bothriocyrtum californicum (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874) have been completely sequenced and annotated for the first time. Hickmania troglodytes is a cave-dwelling species found in Tasmania, and B. californicum is a trap-door spider found in California, USA. From publicly available information in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database, ultra-conserved element reads for H. troglodytes were downloaded. For B. californicum, the DNA was extracted using the DNeasy Kit and then sequenced using 150 bp, paired-end sequencing on an Illumina HiSeq 4000 at University of California-Davis DNA Technologies Core. Contigs for both species were assembled in SPAdes and the mitogenomes extracted from the resulting contigs. The mitogenomes were annotated using MITOS2 and by comparing to other species in the order Araneae. The mitogenome of H. troglodytes is 15,272 base pairs, and the mitogenome of B. californicum is 14,103 base pairs. Both mitochondrial genomes include 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 13 protein coding genes (PCG), 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and a control region. Phylogenetic analysis resulted in the placement of both species within their predicted clades, with H. troglodytes aligning among the Austrochiloidea clade, and B. californicum aligning with other mygalomorphs. Both species have been sequenced for the first time, and are the first species of their respective families to be sequenced. The results of this study help elucidate the evolutionary history of spiders. 

Augustana University
Dr. Brian Patrick